Censorware software fails to cut it

No panacea for net ills

Common Topics

Parental control software is only partially effective and needs to be supplemented by parental supervision of their children's online activities, according to a study by Computing Which?, the consumer magazine.

MSN Premium and Norton Internet Security 2005 fared badly across a set of tests earning a rating of just 35 per cent. Parental control software is designed to prevent kids from accessing sites containing pornographic, racism or other otherwise objectionable content. The market segment has grown in size over recent months fueled in large part by parental fears about the internet arising from cases where children have been "groomed" online by perverts prior to abuse.

Computing Which? has the following top tips for protecting children online: